Resources

Database

Overview: The New York City Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency is a city agency created to address infrastructure concerns in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

How to Use This Resource: This report outlines precisely what elements of New York City’s infrastructure are vulnerable to extreme weather, what has been done to fortify it, and what remains to be done. Updates have followed in the city’s OneNYC initiative (2016 report)

Overview: The nonpartisan Georgetown Climate Center is a branch of Georgetown Law and advocates for climate adaptation, clean energy, and transportation policies in the United States.

How to Use This Resource: The Adaptation Clearinghouse is a database of Georgetown Climate Center research, reports, maps and resources. It is searchable by policy area, organizations, topic and keyword.

Overview: The Community Development Department is the planning agency for the City of Cambridge in Massachusetts. Its climate adaptation mission is to assess the extent of Cambridge’s vulnerability and draft comprehensive policy to strengthen the city’s resiliency.

How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the complete Cambridge plan to adapt to and prepare for climate change.

Overview: The Chicago Climate Task Force reports to Chicago’s Office of the Mayor. The consortium of policymakers and climate experts are working together to decrease Chicago’s GHG emissions and adapt the city to new climate patterns.

How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a complete assessment of Chicago’s response to climate change with reports on policy, risk assessment, and new initiatives, including a nine-point climate adaptation plan.

Overview: The Transportation Research Board is run through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. It conducts research at the nexus of climate change and transportation.

How to Use This Resource: This website serves as a gateway to Transportation Research Board activites and products that address transportation infrastructure and the effort to reduce transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide.

Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.

How to Use This Resource: Journalists will ample data, interactive maps and exhaustive reports to support scientist’s belief that climate change is caused by human activity. This data is organized by topics such as greenhouse gases, oceans, and ecosystems.

Overview: Mashable is a global media company that caters to the digital generation. It reports 45 million monthly unique visitors and 25 million social followers.

How to Use This Resource: Mashable’s climate coverage is led by Science Editor Andrew Freedman, one of the most prolific climate reporters in the United States. He covers breaking climate news, writes long-form analyses, and digests complex data on climate change. He publishes on a daily basis.

Overview: The U.S. Geographical Survey is a science organization that provides the government with information on America’s ecosystems, natural hazards and resources, and the impacts of climate change.

How to Use This Resource: Users can search this database – administered by the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center and the advisory group EcoAdapt – for assessments by specific geographic regions, relevant agency, species, ecosystem and other factors.

Overview: The Climate Security 101 site is a project of the policy institute, The Center for Climate and Security, researching how climate risks affect security. It also posts updates on climate security research and policy documents.

How to Use this Resource: This site’s database on climate change and security features primary documents organized into categories of sources: U.S. Government, intergovernmental bodies, think tanks, etc.

How to Use This Resource: Climate CoLab’s adaptation contest features proposals on preparing for and adapting to climate change. The site also feature numerous other contests and research from internationally recognized experts paired with practical perspectives from local communities.

Overview: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a consortium of 34 nations in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Asia that promote international economic development.

How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find research and reports from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the economic aspects of climate change adaptation.

Overview: The Environmental and Climate Justice Program is the branch of the NAACP advocating for climate change action in African-American communities.

How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find information the specific impact climate change has on African-American communities in the United States. The database includes policy reports, toolkits, and blog articles.

Overview: Climate Central is an independent organization of scientists and journalists researching and reporting climate change in the United States.

How to Use This Resource: Climate Central scientists survey and conduct research on climate change, then partner with journalists to report their findings. The result is this database of scientific research covering topics such as energy, sea level rise, wildfires and drought.

Overview: The U.S. Agency for International Development is the primary federal agency for the administration of foreign financial aid.

How to Use This Resource: U.S. AID’s work focuses on human security and prosperity overseas, and its climate initiative focuses on clean energy growth and resilient development. Its adaptation program reaches more than 30 countries. The site also has a resilience resource and research database in which journalists will find articles, speeches, videos and webinars on U.S. international adaptation investments.

Overview: In response to Hurricane Sandy, U.S. HUD Secretary Donovan launched Rebuild by Design, a design competition model to develop innovative, actionable solutions for a more resilient region in the Northeast.

How to Use This Resource: Each of the projects profiled here found new ways to use design as a means to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. This work is at the vanguard of urban resiliency action.

Overview: This report provides updates on the progress of the Office of the Mayor’s Housing Recovery Operations and the Build it Back Program in the three years since Hurricane Sandy first hit New York City.

How to Use This Resource: The city intends to provide financial relief and expedite recovery for homeowners and better engage local communities directly in the rebuilding process. This report provides a detailed analysis of those efforts, as well as the Build it Back Program, which offers financial assistance to homeowners who were hit by the Hurricane Sandy.

Overview: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership is a University of Cambridge institution that publishes scholarly articles on issues of global concern with a strong focus on climate change.

How to Use This Resource: This archive of reports and scholarly articles focuses on the need to adapt to cleaner energy sources and details initiatives taking place in the financial sector.

Overview: The Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference was the 21st meeting of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose aim is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

How to Use This Resource: The extensive conference information hub is a go-to site for reporters covering the Nov. 30-Dec. 11, 2015 summit, providing agendas, reports, schedules, research pertaining, and more. There’s also a web site on Understanding the UNFCC that includes a detailed discussion of adaptation initiatives.

Overview: The American Institute of Architects is the leading professional membership association for licensed architects, emerging professionals, and allied partners in the United States. It serves as a voice for the architecture profession and promotes service across the nation.

How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a comprehensive database of reports, guidelines, and toolkits on the future and best practices of resilient and sustainable architecture.

Overview: The University of Michigan Graham Sustainability Institute researches solutions for the long-term social, economic, and environment sustainability of the Great Lakes region in the face of climate change.

How to Use This Resource: The Climate Center delivers reports and datasets on the impacts climate change will have on American agriculture and the adaptation strategies underway.

Overview: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the federal agency that develops policies concerned with human health and the environment.

How to Use This Resource: The Climate Ready Estuaries program works with the National Estuary Programs and coastal management communities to assess vulnerabilities and implement adaptation strategies. This database provides access to risk assessment and coastal adaptation toolkits as well as information on ongoing and future projects.

Overview: Greenovate Boston is a citywide initiative to engage the community in climate adaptation and sustainability.

How to Use This Resource: This database provides up-to-date information on sustainable and climate-friendly resources and organizations in Boston. The site also provides links to climate adaptation policy, reports and news in the Boston area.

Overview: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to advance climate change and energy policy in the United States.

How to Use This Resource: This database provides a list of every climate change bill in the 113th Congress. It identifies the bill’s sponsor, summarizes its contents, and reports on its status. Bills are organized by topic, which include climate change adaptation, energy, transportation, renewable fuels, and carbon.

Overview: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is an independent nonprofit advocating for policy action to address climate change. It is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a database of adaptation resources such as reports, bill proposals, and datasets for policymakers on the federal, state and municipal level.

Overview: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is the federal department responsible for developing and executing law on farming, agriculture, forestry, and food.

How to Use This Website: Each climate hub within this interactive map of the United States links to data on that region’s climate, as well as to practical information about climate resiliency and adaptation toolkits for farmers, ranchers and landowners.